Washington, 9 October 1997 (RFE/RL) - Richard Holbrooke, America's former top negotiator on the Balkans, says the United States has made a deep commitment to Bosnia and will not abandon it after the current peacekeeping mandate ends next June.
Holbrooke said yesterday he is convinced on the basis of extensive discussions with all senior U.S. policymakers that the U.S. commitment to help implement the Dayton Peace Accords will continue.
Holbrooke spoke about peace prospects at a Washington conference on Bosnia and the media, organized by Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty. He applauded the surrender of 10 Bosnian Croats to the International War Crimes Tribunal in The Hague earlier this week as a major development and a step toward justice in the region.
Another speaker -- U.S. Senator Joseph Biden (D-Delaware) -- also said the U.S. will stay the course, calling America's commitment to building the peace in Bosnia "genuine and lasting."
Biden, an influential member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he also believes the U.S. and NATO should actively participate in an effort to capture former Bosnian Serb leader Radovan Karadzic and other indicted war crimes suspects.